Something Corporate plays college rock for high schoolers. It's middle-of-the-road pop/rock music gift-wrapped in punk angst (see Avril Lavigne). There isn't anything wrong with writing heartfelt, dramatic rock music; it's just that somewhere in this band's crossbreeding of Elton John and Green Day, the whole element of danger gets lost. Even the Rocket Man had his edgy days, before he went all Lion King on us (I wasn't alive then either, but reliable sources assure me this is true).
Signed to California indie punk label Drive-Thru Records when they were barely out of high school, at least this band's youth makes its awkward-teen-thinks-girl-in-math-class-is-cute odes somewhat credible, unlike some of their ilk.
Something Corporate performs at the Metro in Chicago on Saturday.
While the term "modern hill country music" might sound sound as reasonable to some as "modern steam engine," the subgenre has gained an increasing mainstream presence with the success of acts such as Alison Krauss and Nickel Creek.
Sam Bush is responsible for helping spearhead this musical form, adding touches of rock, jazz and reggae to the traditional hill country music. A native of Bowling Green, Ky., Bush bought his first mandolin when he was 11, and won a national fiddle contest three years in a row.
In 1972, he formed the New Grass Revival, a progressive bluegrass group incorporating elements of rock and gospel. Banjo player Bela Fleck was part of the lineup in the early eighties.
In recent years, Bush has worked both as a solo artist and as a sideman, backing artists such as Fleck's Flecktones, Lyle Lovett and Garth Brooks.
Bush plays Bogart's in Cincinnati on Friday.
Indianapolis's Extra Blue Kind (named for Extra's blue chewing gum variety) received attention from L.A. industry reps and "shady managers," according to their bio, after winning a battle of the bands and garnering some airplay, but were turned off by the slick, star-making machinery of the corporate music business. Wanting to achieve success on their own terms, the band is trying to build a steady career arc for themselves via self-supported touring and independent recordings.
Experimenting with sixties pop and post-punk in the context of modern rock, Extra Blue Kind's sound recalls a less-sludgy Queens of the Stone Age or a less-morose Interpol.
I saw the band play in Muncie last winter, performing live on a taping of BSU LateNight, and was blown away. Vocalist P. David Handy is the antithesis of a David Lee Roth-style frontman, exuding a low-key, introspective demeanor without appearing impassive.
Extra Blue Kind perform tonight at the Patio. Don't miss it.
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